


hot chocolate and waffles

by everytuesday



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Friendship, Gen, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Reggie's Lesbian Moms, i know that popular fanon is that reggie's parents suck but consider..., what if they didn't?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:05:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27220141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everytuesday/pseuds/everytuesday
Summary: Alex shows up on Reggie's porch with a duffel bag and unexplained family problems, Reggie's moms do their best to help, and Reggie is a little slow on the uptake.
Relationships: Alex & Reggie (Julie and The Phantoms)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 169





	hot chocolate and waffles

**Author's Note:**

> i am not the target audience for this show and i almost didn't want to write anything for it but it's 2020, babes. we all gotta cope and im coping by writing my humble contribution to the "alex comes out" genre.
> 
> (i went to the josh thomas/please like me school of titles)

On the grand scale of Sunset Curve’s parent-related problems, Reggie thinks he’s solidly in the middle on any given day. Luke’s parents have never seemed interested in Luke-the-person as much as they care about Luke-the-future-lawyer or Luke-the-future-doctor (or other Lukes who simply do not exist). Alex’s parents are uncomfortably religious, which so far has just resulted in dodging Chick tracts and having to sneak Alex out of his window for Halloween parties. Bobby doesn’t really talk about his family and Reggie has never been able to figure out if it’s because they’re horrible or just boring (although if he had to guess, he’d go with the latter).

Historically, Reggie’s parents haven’t been the problem; it’s the way kids at school have reacted to them. Reggie tolerates the teasing, but Luke excels at quick, snippy comebacks. Usually something about how at least Reggie’s moms have been together for thirty years and actually  _ wanted  _ him, compared to some bully’s parents’ shotgun wedding exactly seventeen years ago. 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t really pack the same punch these days, on account of the whole “Mom kicked Mo out to stay with her sister across town” thing, although Luke and Alex seem more concerned than Reggie has been about it.

(Which is weird because, as he tells them, “They’re  _ my  _ moms, guys. I think I know if they’ll be okay.”

“It’s just that Steph and Morgan are the only parents we know who are actually cool,” Alex says.

“They are  _ not  _ cool.”

“They let us call them Steph and Morgan,” Luke chimes in. “My mom would flip if kids started calling her Emily.”

“Sounds like that song you wrote is gonna go over real well,” Reggie mutters.)

Tonight, Reggie is starting to suspect things between his moms might be a little worse than he’s been telling himself, because it’s well past ten and he’s wide awake listening to them yell at each other over the phone. He can’t call Luke to vent since they’re tying up the landline, so he’s stuck listening to his mom’s half of the argument. Bits of it start to come together: something about responsibility and who’s more sensitive and that one time Mo forgot to pick Reggie up from middle school choir practice and the choir teacher had to drive him home. Then something about holding grudges.

The argument is interrupted by a banging on the front door. Reggie jumps at the opportunity for a distraction and sprints down the stairs, wrenching the door open to see Alex standing on the porch with a duffel bag over one shoulder.

“Thank god you’re--” Reggie stops as he realizes Alex looks… not good. His eyes are red and he’s running one hand up and down the strap of his duffel bag in the type of nervous twitch he gets when he’s freaking out. “Are you okay?”

“Can I stay over?”

“Not sure I’d recommend it right now,” Reggie says, glancing over his shoulder, unsurprised to see his mom on her way down the stairs behind him.

“Reggie, it’s a school night,” Steph gives the perfect impression of a person who wasn’t yelling through the phone twenty seconds earlier. The harshness in her voice fades when she sees Alex, “What’s going on?”

Alex shifts his weight from foot to foot, his voice strained, “I just need to not be home right now. A couple days? Not that I’d have to be here that whole time, I just didn’t have anywhere else to go. I can find another place though, if this doesn’t work.”

Steph glances at Reggie, then back at Alex. Reggie waits for her to shut the door in Alex’s face and scold Reggie for not already being in bed, or something similarly annoying and mom-like, but instead realization lights up in her eyes, “ _ Oh. _ Of course, sweetie. Come on in.”

Reggie feels his jaw drop when she steps back and pulls him with her to give Alex room to come inside, which he bolts to do. 

“Did your parents know where you were going?” Steph asks as she locks the front door, something he’s never seen her do before.

“No. Um, if they call...” Alex trails off and looks down at the floor, his fingers tightening around the duffel bag strap.

“I’ll say whatever you want me to say,” Steph says, firmly, which puts Reggie over the edge.

“Who are you and what have you done with my mother?”

“You’re being rude,” she scolds, more in character. “Alex, honey, why don’t you set your stuff down in Reggie’s room? We’ll get out the air mattress for Reggie.”

“Wait,  _ who’s _ sleeping on the air mattress?”

“You don’t have to do that,” Alex says quickly.

“You’re a guest,” she says, mom-voice fully activated. “Go on upstairs, get settled in.”

Alex doesn’t argue further, although he does shoot an apologetic look at Reggie before darting up in the direction of Reggie’s room. Steph watches him go, brows furrowed, then turns to the hall closet. She has to stand on tip-toes to reach the top shelf and Reggie feels a slight sting when he remembers how normally she’d just call for Mo to come help her.

She manages it on her own, although a few boxes of Christmas lights also fall and Reggie steps over to help her put them back.

“Okay, seriously, what’s going on?” Reggie asks.

She shoves the air mattress box into his arms, “Your friend is upset and we’re going to make sure he feels welcome here.”

“Okay, but Alex is always kind of moody?” Reggie points out, which sounds mean even to his own ears. She seems to agree with the sentiment and doesn’t respond, instead just shuts the closet door and sets off down the hall to the kitchen. Reggie follows, still baffled, and watches her set the kettle on and start rummaging around in the pantry. Mo is the more relaxed of his moms, and even she wouldn’t be quite this calm about one of his friends showing up unannounced this late on a school night.

Steph emerges from the pantry, box of cocoa packets in hand, “Look, I might be totally wrong about what I think is going on, so that’s the case, I don’t want to be spreading rumors about your friends. And if I’m right, it’s not my place to tell you anyway.”

“Tell me what?”

“I just said I couldn’t tell you.”

Reggie huffs and surrenders the weirdness of the night, pulling a pair of mugs out from the cupboard and handing them off to his mom. She takes them with a soft smile.

“You’re a good friend,” she says. “And I know you care about Alex, so just trust me? Don’t rush him into talking about whatever happened at home. Just be there for him.”

The kettle whistles. She spins to pull it off and fill the mugs before transferring them to a tray, which she then hands to Reggie. Or tries to hand it to him. Reggie has to take a few moments to tuck the air mattress box under his arm and then balance the tray in his hands at the same time. It’s a precarious set-up that has Reggie turning very slowly when he starts toward the door.

“Oh, wait!” Steph’s voice stops him in his tracks. She steps back to dig through the pantry again and retrieves with a bag of rainbow mini marshmallows. “Can’t forget the most important part.”

Reggie accepts the bag onto the tray between the mugs and inches his way upstairs, keeping an eye on the piping hot liquid sloshing around with each step up. The door to his room is open, thankfully, and Alex sits cross-legged on the floor, his duffel bag discarded into a corner.

“First of all,” Alex says, “I can totally sleep on the air mattress. I literally just need a place to crash and-- Is that hot chocolate?”

“Yeah, my mom’s being a total freakshow,” Reggie says, handing a mug to Alex and setting his own aside on the dresser. “But we got a school-night sleepover out of it, so I’m gonna let it slide.”

“Yeah, isn’t Morgan usually the cool one?”

“That’s what I thought!” Reggie says. He peels the tape off the air mattress box and dumps the contents out onto the floor.

“How’s it been? You know, since she moved out?”

“Could be better. But they’ve been together for like three hundred years, they’ll figure it out.”

“Reg…” Alex starts.

Reggie doesn’t like the weird note of pity in his tone one bit, “What?”

“Nothing. You’re probably right.”

They lapse into silence. The air mattress slowly inflates, while Reggie’s arm starts to go numb from using the manual air pump, and Alex spaces out into his mug the entire time. He barely notices when Reggie gets up to find extra sheets.

Reggie’s not sure he’s ever seen his friend this freaked out, especially not about his family. Alex’s parents disapprove of Sunset Curve, on account of it not being church hymns, but the band’s music is admittedly pretty tame and they’ve never done more than make a few comments. And even with that tension, Alex is still the darling of his family, given his quadruple straight A’s and complete lack of disciplinary record.

“I’m sorry,” Reggie says when he returns to the room, making Alex jump. “About whatever happened at home. You can stay here however long you want; my moms both love you.”

Alex is quiet while Reggie struggles with the fitted sheet, though he seems more alert and isn’t boring holes into his mug at least. Reggie keeps racking his brain for something to say, which usually isn’t a problem for him, but weird and ambiguously sad moods are not his strong suit.

Reggie has his back to Alex while he’s deciding what pillows to use from his bed, which is when Alex clears his throat and decides to say, “I came out to my parents.”

Reggie blinks, processing what each of those words mean separately and then together. He turns back to Alex slowly, “Oh. Oh, well that’s--”

_ Fine? Good? Not a big deal! Don’t make it a big deal. _ “I mean, that’s not a problem with me.”

_ You have lesbian moms; he knows you don’t hate gay people.  _ “Clearly, because my parents are--”

_But that’s different than when it’s one of your best friends!_ “But like… you and me, _we’re_ cool.”

He’s about to start rambling about not caring about sharing rooms at sleepovers when a voice in his head that sounds far too much like Mom shouts,  _ Shut up! _ And he decides listening to it is probably for the best.

Alex raises an eyebrow at Reggie, bemused.

“Your parents didn’t take it well though,” Reggie assesses.

“That’s putting it mildly,” Alex makes a weird, sad noise that is probably supposed to be a laugh, then looks down at his now-mostly-empty mug of hot chocolate.

Reggie worries they’re headed for another lengthy silence, but he doesn’t know what the right thing to say is. Everything he can think of sounds lame and unhelpful or stating the obvious. But maybe stating the obvious is okay?

“I’m sorry,” Reggie says finally. “You don’t deserve that.”

“Thanks, Reg.”

“Also,” Reggie says, eager to lighten the mood, “This totally explains the weird cryptic stuff my mom kept saying before I came up here.”

“Wait, she knew?” Alex glances over his shoulder at the door warily.

“Yeah, dude, why else would she let you stay over? She must have, like, lesbian spider-sense.”

“That can’t be a thing.”

“Pretty sure it’s a thing,” Reggie says, relieved at how normal the banter feels. “Anyway, I’m gonna actually listen to her on this one and not complain about you stealing my bed.”

Alex starts to protest, but Reggie is already leaning back against the pillows, closing his eyes and yawning for effect, “Nope. You’re a guest in this house and what my mom says goes.”

“You can’t make me sleep in your bed, Reggie.”

“Okay, well, then you’re sharing the air mattress with me. And just so you know, I kick when I sleep, so it’s gonna be pretty uncomfortable.”

During the lengthy argument that ensues, Reggie refuses to move and fully anticipates that Alex will eventually give in, but Alex never does. Instead, the lateness of the hour finally catches up to them and the next thing he’s aware of is the light streaming in through his windows. Also the back of Alex’s head about three inches away from his face.

Reggie sits up and catches sight of the clock, startled to see 9:20 glowing back at him.

“Oh shit,” he slaps Alex’s arm. “We’re late! Get up, we’re so late!”

Alex bolts upright, bleariness quickly evolving to panic, and the two of them stumble around the room to get ready before sprinting down the stairs.

The smell of waffles intermingling with the usual coffee aroma stops Reggie before he gets to the door and Alex nearly runs into him. As Reggie turns back around toward the kitchen, Mo pokes her head out into the hall, a sly smile on her face.

It’s been two weeks, which is the longest time they’ve ever been apart, but somehow the only thing he can think to say is, “Why are you here?”

“Well good morning to you too,” she says, rolling her eyes, “No, ‘Hi, Mo. Love you, good to see you’?”

Reggie makes his way toward her and gives her a still slightly-confused hug, “Hi, love you, good to see you.” Over her shoulder, he can see Steph sitting in the kitchen with her coffee mug, “Why didn’t you wake us up?”

Mo steps into the kitchen to let Reggie pass by and sit across from Steph. She catches Alex in a hug when he tries to get past her, and he lets out a muffled noise of surprise.

“You okay, kid?” she asks him seriously.

Alex pauses for a moment before nodding, then follows Reggie to take a seat at the table.

“We already called the school to let them know you’re not coming in,” Steph says, glancing at Mo. “We figured you two would be fine missing one day.”

“What about my parents?” Alex asks.

“Well, until we can figure out a more permanent solution for your living situation, we’re going to make sure one of us is always around when you two are home. So, Mo’s here because I have to leave for work in a few minutes. Her art shows usually aren’t until evening, when I’ll be back.”

“You really don’t have to do this for me,” Alex says.

“We’re happy to,” Mo says firmly. “Steph and I went through what you’re going through, a long time ago, and we just wish someone had been there for us.”

“Mo,” Steph cautions.

“It’s fine,” Alex says quickly. “Reggie told me you guys had kind of figured it out.”

“Reg!” Steph throws her hands in the air and looks between the two of them. “Have either of you ever not just said the first thing that comes into your head?”

“No,” Reggie and Mo say at the same time. They exchange a look and snicker and for a moment Reggie remembers what things used to be like. Steph’s lips are pressed in a fine line and if it weren’t for Alex’s presence, this would’ve turned into an argument.

Steph looks down at her watch.

“I have to leave for work. There’s waffles on the counter, if you want some,” She stops to kiss Reggie’s temple and pat Alex’s shoulder, then slips out into the hall. A second later, she pokes her head back into the kitchen, “And make sure you bring your dishes down from last night. I don’t want to find moldy coffee mugs in your room next month, Reginald.”

She disappears down the hall again and the front door shuts a few moments later.

“Alright, so you’re ditching school,” Mo starts reheating waffles for them in the microwave, “What trouble are you two going to get up today?”

“Homework,” Alex says. “I was supposed to turn in an essay today and I didn’t do it last night because of, uh, everything. So...”

Mo looks like she might cry, “Your parents are such fucking idiots.”

Alex ducks his head, but Reggie catches the hint of a smile.

“What about you, Reg?”

“Homework,” he says, eyeing Alex. Mo raises an eyebrow and he breaks, “Not homework. Definitely not homework.” 

“That’s my boy,” she grins.

Mo doesn’t remember that Reggie doesn’t like chocolate chips in his waffles, and gives Alex the plain ones instead of him, but right now he doesn’t mind so much. His family is back together and Alex is okay, and even though both of those things feel maybe a little temporary, for now he can push them out of his mind and just enjoy breakfast with people he cares about.

**Author's Note:**

> there is a chance there'll be two more parts of this (alex coming out to luke + a flashforward to how reggie's moms are doing in 2020), but i also want this to stand on its own because i'm historically not great finishing things in a timely manner.
> 
> follow me on tumblr at [archiesweirdfantasy](https://archiesweirdfantasy.tumblr.com/) & thanks to [flightofwonder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightofwonder/pseuds/flightofwonder) for beta-ing.


End file.
